Gunners stunned 1-3 at home by Aston Villa on Day One of EPL
Arsenal endured a calamitous start to the Premier League season after conceding two penalties and having Laurent Koscielny dismissed in a 3-1 home defeat by Aston Villa on Saturday.
Penalty of problems: Aston Villa’s Christian Benteke (second from left) slots home a penalty past Arsenal’s Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (right) to score his team’s second goal during an EPL match at the Emirates Stadium in London on Saturday. Benteke scored off two penalties, while Antonio Luna added a third for Villa. Earlier, Olivier Giroud scored Arsenal’s opener in the sixth minute. Pic/AFP.
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Christian Benteke, Villa’s top scorer last season with 19 goals in his debut campaign, was the architect of Villa’s shock win, scoring twice to puncture the pre-season optimism at the Emirates Stadium.
Olivier Giroud gave Arsenal a sixth-minute lead by clipping home a left-wing cross from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but Benteke equalised in the 22nd minute.
Benteke scores brace
Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was penalised for tripping Gabriel Agbonlahor and although he redeemed himself by parrying Benteke’s spot-kick, the Belgian striker reacted alertly to head in the rebound.
Benteke put Villa ahead from the spot with just under half an hour to play after Koscielny was adjudged to have fouled Agbonlahor, and the Frenchman’s misery was compounded moments later when he was shown a second yellow card for an untidy lunge at Andreas Weimann.
Spanish close-season signing Antonio Luna completed victory for Paul Lambert’s side with five minutes to play, running clear and coolly wrong-footing Szczesny.
Mignolet saves Kops
Earlier, Simon Mignolet saved a last-gasp penalty to earn Liverpool a 1-0 win over Stoke City in the opening game of the new season at Anfield.
The Belgian goalkeeper parried Jon Walters’ 89th-minute spot-kick and then brilliantly blocked Kenwyne Jones’ follow-up after Daniel Agger was penalised for handball.
The game, the first domestic league match in the world to be played with goal-line technology in place, was ultimately decided by a low 20-yard strike from Daniel Sturridge in the 37th minute.
Liverpool’s fluid forward line of Sturridge, Philippe Coutinho and debutant Iago Aspas impressed in the absence of the suspended Luis Suarez, but it was Mignolet who proved the hosts’ saviour.
Other EPL results...
. Norwich 2-2 Everton
. Sunderland 0-1 Fulham
. West Brom 0-1 Southampton
. West Ham 2-0 Cardiff
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